Apparatus for viewing of content contained therein on a nearby display screen

ABSTRACT

An apparatus is provided for viewing content on a display screen. The apparatus includes a portable device adapted to allow viewing of content on a nearby display screen which is not physically connected to the portable device. The portable device includes a memory that stores the content, or a portion thereof, and an electronic address of the content; a display screen which displays the content, or a portion thereof; a button which facilitates communication of the content between the portable device and a local control device connected to the nearby display screen; and a wireless transmitter that communicates the electronic address of the content from the portable device to the local control device via a signal sent by the wireless transmitter upon selection of the button. The local control device retrieves the content from a remote location and provides the content to the nearby display screen for display thereon.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.13/412,664 filed Mar. 6, 2012, which in turn is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 12/973,039 filed Dec. 20, 2010, now U.S. Pat. No.8,131,208, which in turn is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.12/372,385 filed Feb. 17, 2009, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,856,204, which inturn is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/212,450 filedAug. 26, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,496,328, which in turn is adivisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/880,168 filed Jun. 13, 2001,now U.S. Pat. No. 7,058,356. The entire disclosure of each of theseprior applications are incorporated herein by reference.

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.60/211,596 filed Jun. 15, 2000.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Present Invention

An appliance acts as a wireless phone, a TV remote, and an automaticdialer of phone numbers (or web sites) displayed on the TV.

2. Background

Prototypes of “interactive TV” have required that the home users inputdata solely in the form of finger clicks (either on a device like a TVremote control or on a device like a keyboard). Some of the keyboardsare tethered to the TV (or to a set-top box, also referred to below as a“SetTop box”). Others communicate with the TV (or set-top box) in awireless manner.

These prototypes have created output solely through the TV (monitor andspeakers). Most frequently, the output is merely an increased variety ofTV style programming (i.e., more TV channels). More recently, the outputhas been Internet web style programming (i.e., turning the TV into a webbrowser and e-mail client), which may include web style interactiveactivities (e.g., “surfing”, “voting”, or “purchasing”).

These prototype devices have not had deep market penetration despiteheavy marketing efforts. Some analysts have claimed that the supposedinteractivity interfered with the desired passive viewing experience ofthe TV medium. Others acknowledged that today's web style experiencesare not as visually rich as the current TV medium.

However, for decades, much of TV advertising has tried to get TV viewersto pick up a telephone and call a phone number displayed on the TV inorder for the viewer to receive more information or purchase something.Many people have a hard time watching two things at once, but experienceno difficulty watching one thing while listening to another (e.g.,talking on a cell phone while driving). Television shows havesuccessfully had viewers call in. Examples include Muscular Dystrophyfundraisers, talk shows, and shopping channels such as Home ShoppingNetwork. Some of these formats even broadcast incoming phone calls onthe air during the shows. This style of interactivity has beensuccessful and an accepted part of the TV experience.

In addition, recent cellular phones have added a variety of capabilitiesincluding Internet access. Some cell phones can be used to pay vendingmachines (i.e., the user's phone interacts with a soda vending machineso that the soda is paid for by a charge to the user's credit card).

Currently, some cell phones incorporate other electronic technologies.For example, some cell phones include pager technology which enablesthese phones to act as one-way or two-way pagers. Other cell phonesprovide the capabilities of a handheld Personal Digital Assistant(“PDA”). A handheld PDA provides a variety of capabilities whichnonetheless fall short of a fully featured computer. PDA capabilitiesdiffer from one manufacturer to another, but usually include some of thefollowing: an electronic address book (sometimes with automatic phonedialing), a calendar with scheduling software, a “to do” list, anelectronic note pad for text and sketches, a voice recorder, amulti-media playback device for music or video, a digital camera, etc.As an example of the convergence of telephone and PDA capabilities,Qualcomm markets a combination cell phone and PDA which is based uponthe best selling Palm Pilot PDA. As another example, HandSpring marketsa PDA (the “Visor”) that allows a plug-in card to transform the PDA intoa cell phone.

The size of a hand-held telephone, however, limits the size of anyviewing screen it incorporates. This has limited the amount and type ofdata that can be displayed. Pictures, graphics and large amounts of textare difficult to view and read. Such constraints have limited theusefulness of such Internet connections on cell-phones, especially ifthe screen is smaller than the screen on a PDA. Information that can berelayed by short text, such as e-mail or stock price, drives the currentmarket for such devices and services. But such devices have not beenaccepted as a general method of “surfing” the Internet.

Current technology for computer pointer devices no longer requires thata cable connect the pointer device (e.g., a mouse or track ball) to thecomputer. Instead, current technology enables the pointer device tocommunicate with the computer in a wireless manner (e.g., by using aMicrosoft wireless mouse). Current pointer technology does not requirethat the pointer device rest on a solid surface. Examples include notonly hand held controllers for video games, but also “3 dimensional”mice, which use gyroscopic and other internal devices to sense theextent and direction which a mouse is moved in the air (e.g., DiamondMultimedia GyroMouse).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention combines a wireless phone with a TV remote(referred to below as a “TV Phone” or a “telephone device”) in thefollowing manner. When an advertisement comes on the TV requesting theviewer to call a phone number, the viewer clicks a button on the TVPhone and the call is automatically placed. The user then talks into theTV Phone for the desired purpose (e.g., getting information, giving anopinion, purchasing a product). Different TV “channels” (whether TVstyle, or Internet style) can be chosen in two manners: by clicking on abutton located on the TV Phone or by talking into a TV Phone equippedwith a built in speech-to-text voice recognition system.

In some embodiments, the TV Phone acts as a “picture phone,”transmitting video along with the audio.

In some embodiments, the phone number or access code is displayed on areal world object other than a TV, such as a billboard, a commercialsign, a printed page (e.g., a magazine), or the like. The real worldobject includes a wireless transmitter that transmits the phone numberor access code to the TV Phone.

In some embodiments, the TV Phone allows the user to surf the Internetusing his or her TV Phone, and transmit data to a nearby televisionscreen or computer screen to be displayed.

Instead of having an advertisement (or accompanying an advertisement)appear on the screen, an icon or phone number appears on the screenindicating that a phone call would provide more information about asports event, news show, product placement, soap opera plot line, etc.Other icons indicate web page information that can be accessed by thedevice.

The present invention allows a natural verbal and aural interactivitywithout breaking up the expected linearity of TV programming. It alsoallows this interactivity without major telecommunicationsinfrastructure upgrades (e.g., broadband home services through two-waycable systems, fiber optics or DSL systems).

In the preferred embodiment, in addition to the television, there is aset-top box which has three inputs (a standard phone line, a cable fromthe television and a wireless receiver) and a TV Phone. The TV Phone isa cordless phone with a base station in the set-top box. The phone lineis the input and output for the telephone portion of the TV Phone. Thecable from the television is used to send the signal from the TVblanking interval to the set-top box. Similar to closed captioning forthe deaf, this signal transmits data to the set-top box. Here, the datais the telephone number that a TV advertisement or announcement asks theviewer to call.

When the viewer wants to call that number, he or she clicks on a buttonon the TV Phone. Like other remote controls, this sends a wirelesssignal to the set-top box. The wireless signal may be an infraredsignal, but could be another form of wireless (or even wired) signal.The set-top box is sent the proper phone number via the cable from theTV and the set-top box dials that number.

In an alternative embodiment, the set-top box does not have a phoneline, but uses the capacity of a two way cable system attached to thetelevision.

In an alternative embodiment, the set-top box does not have a phoneline, but is the transmitting and receiving station for a cellular orwireless phone.

In an alternative embodiment, the set-top box transmits the phone numberto the TV Phone, and the TV Phone contains a cell phone or wirelessphone which dials the number directly. In this embodiment, the TV Phoneneed not transmit anything to the set-top box to make the phone call.The set-top box is continuously broadcasting the requisite phone number,and the TV Phone button that is clicked just causes automatic dialing.(However, the TV Phone may have to transmit data to the set-top box ifthe device includes web surfing options discussed below.)

In an alternative embodiment, the wireless transmitter is built into theTV and is not a separate set-top box.

In an alternative embodiment, the TV Phone does not operate as a TVremote control, but can just launch the automatic dialing.

In an alternative embodiment, the phone number is not transmitted overthe blanking interval. Rather, the set-top box transmits which stationis being viewed (or the phone number for the station being viewed) andthe TV Phone, when activated, dials the station's phone number. Thestation knows which phone number is being shown on the broadcast (e.g.,by having simultaneous input from the station of the number, or byreferring to a database with “playlists”) and forwards the phone call tothat number.

In an alternative embodiment, the set-top box dials the station number(or sends a signal on a two-way cable) and that call is forwarded to thephone number shown on the TV.

In an alternative embodiment, the phone call is not forwarded, but islogged, and the calling device hangs up. Then, the phone call isreturned (from the appropriate party) to the TV Phone either directly orthrough the set-top box.

In some applications, talk over the TV Phone is the only desiredcommunication. In other applications, alphanumeric buttons on the phonecan be used (as in phone tree routing) or the other buttons on the TVPhone may signal acceptance, denial or other action.

In some applications, input from the TV Phone has no effect upon thevideo and audio displayed on the TV. In other applications, input fromthe phone may cause a change in the video and audio displayed on the TV,e.g., cause transmission of pay per view movie, cause a signal thatenables the set-top box to descramble a pay per view movie or channel(while charging the user's account or credit card), cause the TV todisplay an Internet web page, etc.

In some applications, only verbal input from TV Phone completes apurchase or gives out a credit card number. In other applications, thesetransactions are automated by clicking a button. This automation mayoccur by pre-installing the credit card number on the TV Phone, or by“escrowing” it with the selling entity (compare to accounts that userscan set up at amazon.com). The automated buying may be accomplished byautomatically billing the item to the user's phone number, as with 900numbers.

In an alternative embodiment, regular cell phones include extracircuitry so that they become TV Phones. When such a TV phone-enabledcell phone is in the presence of a TV Phone set-top box (or a TV withsuch a set-top box built into it), these cell phones act as a TV Phoneand TV remote.

Many cell phones are now becoming Internet enabled, with tiny screensthat transmit modified web pages. In an alternative embodiment, theseweb-enabled cell phones include extra circuitry so that they become TVPhones (“Web-Cell-TV phone”). When in the presence of a TV Phone set-topbox (or a TV with such a set-top box built into it), a simple click onone of the TV Phone buttons places the web page currently displayed onthe Web-Cell-TV phone onto the TV screen. (This allows not only largerprint but considerably more detail.) The user of the Web-Cell-TV phonenavigates on this web page and around Internet (when web pages aredisplayed on the TV) by using the buttons on the Web-Cell-TV phonePhone. Speech recognition software allows the user to navigate theInternet by talking into the Web-Cell-TV phone. Hereinafter, the term“TV Phone” includes “Web-Cell-TV phone”.

In an alternative embodiment, the TV Phone may include some or allfunctions of a PDA. In this embodiment, the TV Phone may include suchfunctions as an electronic address book (with or without automaticdialing), an electronic calendar with scheduling capabilities, a “to do”list, an electronic note pad, multi-media playback devices (e.g., forplaying audio including voice and music, video, games, TV broadcasts ornarrowcasts, radio broadcasts or narrowcasts, including pre-recorded andlive, previously downloaded and streaming, however transmitted, e.g.,using broadcast spectrum and over the Internet), a voice recorder andplayback device, a digital camera (for either still or moving pictures),a pager, etc. In one embodiment, these functions can be displayed onlyon the TV Phone. In another embodiment, these functions can be displayedonly on a TV with the requisite devices for communicating with the TVPhone. In another embodiment, these functions can be displayed both onthe TV Phone and on a TV with the requisite devices for communicatingwith the TV Phone. For the latter embodiments, pressing a button on theTV Phone (or issuing a voice command to it) causes the desired data orpictures to be displayed on a nearby TV screen.

In an alternative embodiment, the TV Phone contains motion detectiondevices (such as gyroscopes) so that the TV Phone can operate as apointing device (e.g., a 3D mouse) with respect to the display on anearby TV which has the requisite devices for communicating with the TVPhone. In this embodiment, if an Internet web page is displayed on theTV, the TV Phone can be used as a pointing device to navigate the pageand click on links. In this embodiment, if a data sheet is displayed onthe TV, the TV Phone can be used to navigate it, highlight words, cells,or other data objects for action. In this embodiment, if a picture isdisplayed on the TV, the TV Phone can click on particular portions ofthe picture when the portions are linked to hot spots or othertriggering devices (similar to hot spots on a web page graphic) whichmay trigger the placing of a phone call, the retrieval of a web page orother information, the purchase of an item, etc.

In an alternative embodiment, the TV Phone, instead of interacting asdescribed above with a television set with a set-top box, interacts witha computer that has a TV tuner card or circuit. The computer may, butneed not, have an Internet connection.

In an alternative embodiment, the TV Phone, instead of interacting witha television set with a set-top box, interacts with a computer that hasa monitor, but no TV tuner circuit. This computer may, but need not,have an Internet connection.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following detailed description of preferred embodiments of thepresent invention would be better understood when read in conjunctionwith the appended drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the presentinvention, there are shown in the drawings embodiments which arepresently preferred. However, the present invention is not limited tothe precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown. In the drawings:

FIG. 1A shows a functional flowchart and pictorial representation of onepreferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1B shows a functional flowchart and pictorial representation ofanother preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1C shows an outside view of the hand unit of a TV Phone.

FIG. 2 shows an outside view of a television set used with a TV Phoneand a TV phone-SetTop Box used in conjunction with the television setand the TV Phone.

FIG. 3 shows the data flows associated with a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention, in which the TV Phone operates as a wirelesscellular phone.

FIG. 4 shows the data flows associated with an alternate preferredembodiment of the present invention in which the TV Phone operates as ahome cordless phone that connects wirelessly to a home base stationwhich is connected by wire to the phone system.

FIG. 5 shows the data flows associated with an alternate embodiment ofthe present invention, in which the TV Phone incorporates a speechrecognition module.

FIG. 6 shows the data flows associated with an alternate embodiment ofthe present invention which works in conjunction with a WebTV device.

FIG. 7 shows the data flows associated with an alternate embodiment ofthe present invention in which a WebTV device is incorporated into theTV Phone SetTop Box.

FIG. 8 shows the data flows associated with an alternate embodiment ofthe present invention in which a WebTV device is incorporated into thetelevision receiver.

FIG. 9 shows the data flows associated with an alternate embodiment ofthe present invention in which television signals are received via acable television network.

FIG. 10 shows the data flows associated with an alternate embodiment ofthe present invention in which a WebTV device is incorporated into theset-top box associated with the cable television network.

FIG. 11 shows the data flows associated with an alternate embodiment ofthe present invention in which the TV Phone contains a wireless spatialmouse that communicates with a WebTV type device.

FIG. 12 shows the data flows associated with an alternate embodiment ofthe present invention in which activation results in a phone call beingplaced by a telemarketer to the user, rather than the user placing thecall.

FIG. 13 shows the data flows associated with an alternate embodiment ofthe present invention in which activation results in a phone call beingplaced wirelessly from the telemarketer to the TV Phone.

FIG. 14 shows the data flows associated with an alternate embodiment ofthe present invention in which the TV Phone can transmit data to anearby television for display on the television's monitor.

FIG. 15 shows the data flows associated with an alternate embodiment ofthe present invention in which the TV Phone can transmit data to anearby kiosk for display on a television monitor of the kiosk.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Certain terminology is used herein for convenience only and is not to betaken as a limitation on the present invention.

Definitions

The following definitions are provided to promote understanding of thepresent invention.

-   telephone device—A telephone is an instrument that converts voice    and other sound signals into a form that can be transmitted to    remote locations and that receives and reconverts waves into sound    signals. The telephone device described herein performs these    conventional functions of a telephone, and also includes enhanced    functions which are activated by one or more special or specified    buttons. In some embodiments, the telephone device may also transmit    images, snapshots, or video. The telephone device is referred    throughout the specification as a “TV Phone.”-   button—In the present invention, the selection of a special or    specified button initiates an enhanced function. As used herein, the    phrase, “selection of a button” includes selecting a single button,    selecting a plurality of specified buttons that must be pressed in a    specific sequence, or the selection of a voice command that is    preprogrammed to be equivalent to the selection of a specified    button or sequence of buttons.-   electronic address—In the present invention, an electronic address    may be an e-mail address, a web site, an ftp site, or equivalents    thereof.-   portion of content—In selected embodiments of the present invention,    the telephone device includes a display screen that displays    content. The content may be a portion of a full content image. As    used herein, the “portion of content” may be a truncated or cutoff    version of the full content (e.g., cut off at one or more edges), a    compressed or low resolution version of the full content, a    thumbnail or keyhole of the full content, a text-only version of    visual or multi-media content, or the like.    Overview of Present Invention

The present invention provides many different embodiments of an enhancedtelephone device, as discussed below.

I. Object emits signal containing a telephone number to a telephonedevice, which, in turn, automatically dials the telephone number.

A telephone device allows a user to communicate with a remotely locatedentity. The telephone device includes a button which facilitatescommunication between the telephone device and the remotely locatedentity, and a wireless receiver. In the broadest sense, the processoperates as follows:

1. An object, or a device connected to an object, emits a signalcontaining a telephone number of the remotely located entity.

2. The wireless receiver receives the signal emitted by the object orthe device connected to the object.

3. The telephone device automatically establishes two-way communicationwith the remotely located entity upon selection by the user of thebutton. Selection of the button causes the telephone device toautomatically dial the telephone number of the remotely located entity.

The object may be an outdoor sign or billboard, thereby allowing a userto select one button on the telephone device to become instantly (oralmost instantly) connected with the entity associated with the outdoorsign or billboard.

The object may be a set-top box of a TV system. If so, then the set-topbox receives the telephone number from broadcast signals sent over theTV system. The set-top box then emits a signal containing the telephonenumber of the remotely located entity. In one system configuration, thetelephone device is a wireless telephone device having a base station inthe set-top box, and the set-top box is hardwired to a telephone outlet.In this configuration, the hardwired telephone outlet in the basestation of the set-top box establishes two-way communication with theremotely located entity. In another system configuration, the telephonedevice is a cellular telephone device, and a cellular telephone networkis used to establish two-way communication with the remotely locatedentity.

The automatic establishment of two-way communication with the remotelylocated entity may occur by having the telephone device automaticallydial the telephone number of the remotely located entity, and thencommunicating user identity information to the remotely located entity.The remotely located entity then uses the user identity information toinitiate a call to the telephone device. In one preferred embodiment ofthe present invention, the user identity information is the telephonenumber of the telephone device. Alternatively, the user identityinformation may be a customer number or other customer identifyinginformation, and the remotely located entity may use a database or tablelookup to locate the telephone number of the user to initiate a call tothe user's telephone device.

The user preferably engages in an audio session with a person or machineat the remotely located entity upon establishing the two-waycommunication. In other instances, the session may be audiovisual.

The telephone device preferably includes transceiver circuitryassociated with normal telephone communication functions which isseparate from the wireless receiver. If so, then the two-waycommunication uses only the transceiver circuitry.

The device connected to an object may be a wireless transmitterconnected to a television. If so, then the television receives thetelephone number from broadcast signals received by the television, andthe wireless transmitter connected to the television emits a signalcontaining the telephone number of the remotely located entity.

II. Object emits signal containing an electronic address to a telephonedevice, which, in turn, automatically goes to the electronic address.

A telephone device allows a user to communicate with a remotely locatedentity. The telephone device includes a button which facilitatescommunication between the telephone device and the remotely locatedentity, and a wireless receiver. In the broadest sense, the processoperates as follows:

1. An object, or a device connected to an object, emits a signalcontaining an electronic address of the remotely located entity.

2. The wireless receiver receives the signal emitted by the object orthe device connected to the object.

3. The telephone device automatically establishing communication withthe remotely located entity upon selection by the user of the button.The selection of the button causes the telephone device to automaticallycontact the electronic address contained within the emitted signal.

The electronic address may be a web site address of the remotely locatedentity. If so, then selection of the button causes the telephone deviceto automatically go to the web site address of the remotely locatedentity. The telephone device may further include a display screen thatdisplays content. If so, then the web site of the remotely locatedentity displays content on the display screen retrieved by the telephonedevice during the communication with the remotely located entity.

The automatic establishment of two-way communication with the remotelylocated entity may occur by having the telephone device automaticallydial the telephone number of the remotely located entity and communicateuser identity information to the remotely located entity. The remotelylocated entity then uses the user identity information to initiate acall to the telephone device.

In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the user identityinformation is the telephone number of the telephone device.Alternatively, the user identity information may be a customer number orother customer identifying information, and the remotely located entitymay use a database or table lookup to locate the telephone number of theuser to initiate a call to the user's telephone device.

The telephone device preferably includes transceiver circuitryassociated with normal telephone communication functions which isseparate from the wireless receiver. If so, then the two-waycommunication uses only the transceiver circuitry.

III. Transmission of content shown on a telephone device display screento a nearby display screen.

A telephone device is used to view content on a nearby display screenwhich is not physically connected to the telephone device. The telephonedevice includes a display screen which displays content, a button whichfacilitates communication of content between the telephone device and alocal control device connected to the nearby display screen, and awireless transmitter. In the broadest sense, the process operates asfollows:

1. Content is stored in the telephone device.

2. The content is displayed on the display screen of the telephonedevice.

3. The content is communicated from the telephone device to the localcontrol device via a signal sent by the wireless transmitter uponselection of the button.

4. The local control device receives the signal and provides the contentto the nearby display screen for display thereon.

The local control device may require the use of a decoder to convert thesignal received from the telephone device into a format for viewing bythe nearby display screen.

The content shown on the telephone device display screen may be aportion of a full content image. If so, then the full content image isprovided to the local control device for display on the nearby displayscreen.

IV. Transmission of electronic address of content shown on a telephonedevice display screen to a nearby display screen (scheme 1)

A telephone device is used to view content on a nearby display screenwhich is not physically connected to the telephone device. The telephonedevice includes a display screen which displays content, or a portionthereof, a button which facilitates communication of content between thetelephone device and a local control device connected to the nearbydisplay screen, and a wireless transmitter. In the broadest sense, theprocess operates as follows:

1. Content, or a portion thereof, and an electronic address of thecontent are stored in the telephone device.

2. The content, or a portion thereof, is displayed on the display screenof the telephone device.

3. The electronic address of the content is communicated from thetelephone device to the local control device via a signal sent by thewireless transmitter upon selection of the button.

4. The local control device receives the signal and transmits a requestover an electronic network to retrieve the content from a remotelocation.

5. Upon receiving the content, the local control device provides thecontent to the nearby display screen for display thereon.

The content shown on the telephone device display screen may be aportion of a full content image. If so, then the full content image isprovided to the local control device for display on the nearby displayscreen.

In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the electronicaddress is a web site address, the remote location is a web site, andthe electronic network is the Internet.

In another preferred embodiment, the content, or a portion thereof, thatis stored in the telephone device is retrieved from a remote source.

In yet another preferred embodiment, the local control device furthercomprises a payment module which tracks usage charges for providingcontent to the nearby display screen. In this scheme, the telephonedevice communicates customer identity information, such as the telephonenumber of the telephone device, to the payment module. The paymentmodule inhibits the completion of the process unless the payment moduleproperly authorizes the telephone device to use the display screen forviewing content. In this embodiment, the local control device may bepart of a kiosk having a large screen display for viewing content.

V. Transmission of electronic address of content shown on a telephonedevice display screen to a nearby display screen (scheme 2).

A telephone device is used to view content on a nearby display screenwhich is not physically connected to the telephone device. The telephonedevice includes a display screen which displays an electronic address ofcontent, a button which facilitates communication of the electronicaddress between the telephone device and a local control deviceconnected to the nearby display screen, and a wireless transmitter. Inthe broadest sense, the process operates as follows:

1. The telephone device retrieves an electronic address of content froma remote source, and stores the electronic address in the telephonedevice.

2. The electronic address is displayed on the display screen of thetelephone device. (In this scheme, content, or a portion thereof,associated with the electronic address is not necessarily displayed onthe display screen of the telephone device.)

3. The electronic address is communicated from the telephone device tothe local control device via a signal sent by the wireless transmitterupon selection of the button.

4. The local control device receives the signal and transmits a requestover an electronic network to retrieve content at the electronic addressfrom a remote location.

5. Upon receiving the content, the local control device provides thecontent to the nearby display screen for display thereon.

Scheme 2 may have a similar payment module and kiosk layout as thescheme 1. Scheme 2 may also use a web site address as the electronicaddress.

VI. A telephone number is shown on display screen, and a wirelesstelephone device automatically dials the telephone number.

A wireless telephone device and a set-top box of a TV system allow auser to communicate with a remotely located entity. The wirelesstelephone device includes a button which facilitates communicationbetween the telephone and the remotely located entity. The set-top boxincludes a base station of the wireless telephone device. The set-topbox is in communication with a telephone system and is also connected toa television. In the broadest sense, the process operates as follows:

1. The set-top box stores a telephone number and causes telephone numberinformation to be displayed on the television.

2. Upon selection by the user of the button, the telephone device sendsa signal to the set-top box to dial the telephone number, therebyestablishing two-way communication between the telephone device and theremotely located entity via base station and the telephone system.

The user may engage in an audio session with a person or machine at theremotely located entity upon establishing the two-way communication.

In one preferred embodiment, the set-top box prestores a listing oftelephone numbers corresponding to specified television stations, andthe dialed telephone number is the prestored telephone number of thecurrently active television channel. The television station mayautomatically forward any received telephone calls to a telephone numberof the remotely located entity.

The establishment of two-way communication with the remotely locatedentity may occur by the telephone device sending a signal to the set-topbox to dial the telephone number of the remotely located entity andcommunicating user identity information to the remotely located entity,and the remotely located entity using the user identity information toinitiate a call to the telephone device. The user identity informationmay be the telephone number of the telephone device.

The telephone system is preferably external to the TV system, but mayalternatively be internal to the TV system. In either embodiment, thetelephone system preferably uses the TV system for establishing andmaintaining the two-way communication.

The telephone number information may be a telephone number stored at theset-top box. Alternatively, the telephone number information may be atelephone icon which indicates that the telephone number stored at theset-top box will be dialed upon selection of the button. In yet anotheralternative scheme, the telephone number information is the telephonenumber stored at the set-top box and a telephone icon which indicatesthat the telephone number stored at the set-top box will be dialed uponselection of the button.

The set-top box may receive the telephone number stored therein frombroadcast signals sent by the TV system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B provide self-explanatory summary overviews of twoembodiments of the present invention, both of which are described inmore detail below with respect to the remaining figures. Thus, nodetailed descriptions are provided herein of these figures.

Referring to FIG. 1B, in an alternative embodiment of the presentinvention, the TV phone acts as an input device (e.g., a mouse, pointingdevice, keyboard) to a WebTV-type device connected to the displayscreen.

FIG. 1C shows the hand unit of a TV Phone 101. Some of its features aresimilar to those of a standard wireless telephone such as a microphone117, a speaker 109, an alphanumeric keypad 119, a control keypad withSEND and RECEIVE keys 121, a power on and off switch 107, an antenna105, an LCD panel 111. Special features of the TV Phone are an antenna103 for communicating with the TV or set-top box and a special TV Phonebutton 113. In an alternate embodiment, both antennae are combined intoone. In another alternate embodiment, the special TV Phone button isreplaced by requiring the user to click on two standard buttons at thesame time or clicking on a sequence of standard buttons. Also shown is aspecial TV Internet button 115 which allows the TV Phone to operate anInternet appliance which may be stand-alone, operating as a set-top boxto the television, or integrated into the TV Phone set-top box. In analternate embodiment, this button 115 is eliminated or its function isreplaced by some other standard button or combination of buttons. Inalternate embodiments, the special buttons 113 and 115 are replaced byspeech recognition software embedded in the TV Phone 101. In alternateembodiments, some of these features may be eliminated, or their locationmoved or their size altered.

FIG. 2 shows a standard television 213, a TV Phone set-top box 201, anda cable 211 for connecting them.

The standard television 213 in FIG. 2, includes a screen 221 forviewing, a speaker for listening 227, a jack for an earphone 225, apower on and off switch 233, buttons for changing channels 229, buttons231 for increasing and decreasing volume of sound coming from thespeaker 227 or earphone jack 225, a hand-held remote control 239, and awireless antenna 223 for receiving input from the remote control 239.The standard television 213 also includes a recessed panel 219, behindwhich is a set of controls for fine tuning channels, adjusting color,fixing horizontal and vertical stability, etc. (These controls are notshown.) The standard television 213 also includes input jacks 237,output jacks 235, a VHF antenna 215, a UHF antenna 217, other jacks 241such as for connecting to a cable television service, and a power cordwith plug 239. In an alternative embodiment, the power cord is replacedby a battery pack (not shown). Alternate embodiments include otheroptional features typical of television sets (not shown) such as, butnot limited to, special connections for cable, video, audio, VCR,Internet, WebTV®, CD, DVD or TiVo® devices. Alternate embodimentsinclude these optional features in the television set itself (not shown)along with control pads for them (not shown).

The TV Phone set-top box 201 shown in FIG. 2, includes input jacks 207,output jacks 205, a power cord with plug 209 and a wireless antenna fortransmitting data to and receiving data from the TV Phone 101.

The connection cord 211 connects from an output jack 235 of thetelevision 213 to the input jack 207 of the TV Phone set-top box 201 aswell as connecting the output jack 207 of the TV Phone set-top box 201to the input jack 237 of the television 213.

The TV Phone set-top box may sit on top of the television, or next to itor somewhere close. In an alternate embodiment, the TV Phone set-top box201 is built into the television set 213. In an alternate embodiment,the TV Phone set-top box is built into another appliance connected tothe television, such as, but not limited to, a cable television set-topbox, a satellite TV set-top box, a VCR, a CD player, DVD player, agaming console like the Sony Playstation, a TiVo player (or Replayplayer) that allows delayed viewing of television shows by incorporatingdigital storage such as a hard disc, a Web TV set-top box, or otherInternet appliance.

FIG. 3 shows a diagrammatic view of the present invention. Under normaloperation of the television set 213, designated also as the televisionreceiver 303 in FIG. 3, a television signal is transmitted from atelevision station 301 to the television set 213 either wirelessly,through the air or through a conduit such as a television cable, orfiber optic line, or some combination. The television set picks up thesignal through antenna 215 and 217 or an input jack 241. Within thetelevision receiver 303, the signal is routed to a TV tuner card 305which processes the signal. The images in the TV signal 307 are sent tothe monitor 309 (also designated in FIG. 2 as the screen 221) and thesound sent to the speaker 227 and earphone jack 225 (shown in FIG. 2 butnot in FIG. 3). (Some units have more than one speaker, or have stereospeakers.) Signals that come over the blanking interval, such as closedcaptioning for the hearing impaired, are displayed on a portion of themonitor such as the lower right corner of the screen 311. (In otherembodiments, these signals may be displayed on other or differentportions of the screen.) The blanking interval currently accommodatesvarious signals besides closed captioning. In this embodiment, theblanking interval includes a telephone number that can be called forcertain information, such as with advertisements. This number isdisplayed 309 and the number is also sent to the SetTop Box 317. An iconis displayed alongside the telephone number on the lower right corner ofthe screen 309 which indicates that it is accessible via the TV Phone.In some embodiments, the icon is displayed without the telephone number,in other embodiments, the telephone number is displayed without theicon. In other embodiments, the location on the screen for display ofphone numbers or icons differs.

When the telephone number (actually, data which contains the telephonenumber) is sent to the SetTop Box 317, it is transferred to a wirelesstransmitter 319 in the SetTop Box 317. In a preferred embodiment, thewireless transmitter 319 uses parts of the infrared electromagneticspectrum. In other preferred embodiments, the wireless transmitter usesother portions of the electromagnetic spectrum, such as those used bythe BlueTooth® wireless protocol. The wireless transmitter transmits thedata containing telephone number. The data is received by the wirelessreceiver 323 in any nearby TV Phone 321. When such a signal is received,the TV phone 321 loads the number into an auto-dialer 327 and activatesa display light 325. (In an alternate embodiment, the TV Phone 321 beepsor emits an audible sound, when the signal is received.) When the userpresses a specific button 329 on the TV phone keypad 333, the autodialer327 will be activated. This causes the wireless phone 331 portion of theTV phone 321 to access the wireless phone service 337 (e.g., a cellphone network) by dialing the number that had been received from the TVStation 301 over the blanking interval signal and passed from theTelevision Receiver 303 through the SetTop Box 317 to the TV phone 321.If the number is not busy, the user may talk through the microphone 323of the TV Phone 321 to parties at the other end, or may enter data usingthe keypad 333.

The TV phone 321 also can be used as a remote control for the TelevisionReceiver 303. When used as a remote control, the keypad 333 of the TVPhone 321 activates the circuitry of encoding and circuitry associatedwith a TV remote control device 334 which is built into the TV Phone321. The TV remote control circuitry 334 transfers its data to awireless transmitter 335 which sends that data to a wireless receiver315 in the Television Receiver 303. The wireless transmitter 335 in theTV Phone 321 uses a different portion of the electromagnetic spectrum asthe wireless transmitter 319 in the SetTop Box 317. (An alternateembodiment of the present invention uses the same portion of thespectrum or the same protocol for communication over such spectrum.) Thewireless receiver 315 receives data for changing a channel, increasingor decreasing volume of audio, powering the system on or off, or thelike, in the same manner it receives data from a standard TV remotecontrol device, and then forwards the commands to the TV tuner card 305,which executes the desired operation.

In FIG. 4, the TV Phone only transmits phone signals for a shortdistance, such as in a home cordless phone system. The TV Phone does nottransmit the signal directly to the phone service 337, but rathertransmits the phone signal to a wireless receiver 341 built into theSetTop Box 317. This SetTop Box 317 operates like the base station of ahome cordless telephone. The SetTop Box 317 is connected to the phoneservice 337 and the wireless receiver 341 transfers the telephone signalfrom the TV Phone 321 to the phone service 337. Other elements of thesystem, such as the television receiver 303 and the wireless transmitter319 in the SetTop Box 317, are the same as in FIG. 3.

In FIG. 5, the TV Phone incorporates a speech recognition module 351 asan input device in addition to a keypad 333. In this embodiment,commands and data entries can be accomplished by speaking into themicrophone 332. The speech recognition module 351 translates the spokenwords into data commands that are recognized by the wireless phone 331or the TV remote control module 334 as appropriate. For example, thecommand “SEND” is a command for the wireless phone, whereas the command“SWITCH TO CHANNEL 5” is a command for the TV remote module. Otherelements of the system are the same as shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 shows the same configuration of TV Phone as in FIG. 3, exceptthat the user has hooked up a typical WebTV type device 361 to thetelevision. The wireless receiver 315 is connected to the WebTV typedevice 361, which is connected to the monitor 309 and an InternetService Provider 363. The connection to the Internet Service Providercan be via dial-up modem through the telephone system, via cable modemthrough a cable TV network, via a wireless cable network, via asatellite dish, or any combination thereof. A wireless keyboard 365 isalso part of the system. (In alternate embodiments, the keyboard istethered to either the TV or the WebTV type device.) When the WebTVdevice 361 receives data from the Internet Service Provider 363, thedata is displayed on the TV monitor 309. The user can input informationto the WebTV device (e.g., by clicking on hyperlinks or by typinge-mail) using the keyboard 365 or the TV remote 367. In an alternateembodiment, the wireless receiver for the WebTV is distinct from thewireless receiver for the TV receiver's remote control. In an alternateembodiment, the wireless receiver for the WebTV 315 is physicallylocated in the housing of the WebTV device 361.

Input to the remote control module in the TV Phone 321 (not shown inFIG. 6, but shown as 334 in FIG. 3) and the keypad in the TV Phone 321(not shown in FIG. 6, but shown as 333 in FIG. 3) control the WebTVdevice in the same way as the TV remote 367 (also shown as 239 in FIG.2) and keyboard 365.

Other elements of the system shown in FIG. 6 are the same as shown inFIG. 3.

FIG. 7, shows an alternative embodiment in which the WebTV type device361 is located in the housing of the TV Phone SetTop Box 317. The dataflows are the same as in FIG. 6, except the physical location of theWebTV type device has moved. Other elements of the system shown in FIG.7 are the same as shown in FIGS. 6 and 3.

FIG. 8, shows an alternative embodiment in which the WebTV type device361 is located in the housing of the TV Receiver 303. The data flows arethe same as in FIG. 6, except the physical location of the WebTV typedevice has moved. Other elements of the system shown in FIG. 8 are thesame as shown in FIGS. 6 and 3.

FIG. 9, shows an alternative embodiment in which the television receiver303 is connected to a cable television network via a cable TV box 391.The television tuner card 305 receives broadcasts from the TV station301 through the cable network and the cable TV box 391, rather thanthrough an antenna 215 or 217. In all other respects, elements of thesystem shown in FIG. 9 are the same as shown in FIGS. 6 and 3.

FIG. 10, shows an alternative embodiment in which the WebTV type device361 is located in the housing of the cable TV box 361. The data flowsare the same as in FIGS. 9 and 6, except the physical location of theWebTV type device has moved. Other elements of the system shown in FIG.10 are the same as shown in FIGS. 9, 6 and 3.

FIG. 11 shows an alternate embodiment of the present invention in whichthe TV Phone contains a wireless spatial mouse 395 that operates with aWebTV type device 361. The WebTV device 361 may be located in thetelevision receiver housing 303, in the TV Phone SetTop Box housing 317,in another housing such as a cable TV set-top box 391, or by itself asin FIG. 6. As the user moves the TV Phone in space, the gyroscopicsensors in the wireless spatial mouse 395 sense the change in positionand send that change wirelessly to the wireless receiver 315. Thewireless receiver transfers the data on the change in position to theWebTV type device 361 which causes a cursor to move on the monitor (309in FIG. 6). The user can “select” items on the screen, i.e., perform“mouse clicks”, by clicking one or more of the keys on the TV Phonekeypad 333. The click is transmitted though the wireless spatial mouse395 to the wireless receiver 315 and thence to the WebTV type device361, which records and reacts to the mouse click. Other elements of thesystem shown in FIG. 11 are the same as shown in FIGS. 6 and 3.

FIG. 12 shows an alternate embodiment of the present invention. Dataflows from the TV Station 301 to the Television Receiver 303 and then tothe TV Phone SetTop Box 317, in the same manner as in FIG. 3. However,the set-top box does not send the phone number to the TV Phone, butsends the number to an autodialer 401 in the SetTop Box 317. The SetTopBox 317 sends a signal via the wireless transmitter 319 to the TV Phone321 that a phone number is available to access. The signal is receivedby a wireless receiver 323 and a display light 325 lights up. If theuser wants to access the phone number, the user presses the specialbutton 329 on the TV Phone. When the special button is pressed, awireless transmitter 397 sends a signal to a wireless receiver 399 inthe SetTop Box 317. The autodialer 401 in the SetTop Box 317 makes aphone or data call through the phone service 403 to the phone numberrepresenting a telemarketing service. The phone or data call gives thetelephone number by which the TV Phone can be called by third parties.Then the telemarketing service 405 makes a phone call through the phoneservice 337 to the wireless phone component 331 of the TV Phone.

The key difference between FIG. 12 and FIG. 3 is whether the user of theTV Phone makes the wireless call, or merely receives the wireless call.In some regions or countries, wireless calls are charged only to theperson who dials the call, whereas in other regions or countries,wireless calls are charged only to the person who receives the call. Inother places, both caller and receiver are charged. The commercialviability of the present invention may depend on who is charged for thecall. The different embodiments provide for the different way wirelessphone charges are billed.

Other elements of the system shown in FIG. 12 are the same as shown inFIG. 3.

FIG. 13 shows an alternate embodiment of the present invention, in whichthe phone number is not transmitted from the television receiver 303 tothe TV Phone 321. Rather, the phone numbers are transferred from thetelemarketing service 405 to a data transmission service 407 whichtransmits the data to a wireless data receiver 409 in the TV Phone 321.The user must use the keypad 333 to set which television channel (ornetwork) he or she is watching. Then, when there is a number to bedialed on that channel, the wireless data receiver 409 lights up thedisplay light 325 and transfers the telephone number to the auto dialer327. A particular television network (or channel number) may be airingdifferent advertisements and advertised phone numbers in differentlocalities and time zones. However, the triangulation feature of cellphones that is required by government agencies, such as the FCC toenable emergency units to locate a cell phone caller, can be used todistinguish locations and time zones.

In any event, as in FIG. 3, pressing the special button 329 causes theautodialer 327 to make the phone call. The TV Phone operates as a TVremote control 334 and 335 as in FIG. 3, but changing the channels viathe built in TV remote 334 tells the wireless data receiver 409 whichnetwork or local channel is active, and which phone numbers to use.

Other elements of the system shown in FIG. 13 are the same as shown incorresponding numbered items in FIG. 3.

FIG. 14 shows an alternate embodiment of the present invention, in whichthe phone number is not transmitted from the television receiver 303 tothe TV Phone 321. Rather, as in FIG. 13, the phone numbers aretransferred from a data transmission service 407 to a wireless datareceiver 409 in the TV Phone 321. In addition, in the embodiment shownin FIG. 14, the TV Phone receives other data from the data transmissionservice, such as e-mail, Internet access, and the like. The data may bedelivered using the WAP protocol or other protocol. The data may bedisplayed on a small LCD screen 111 on the TV Phone (shown in FIG. 1Cbut not shown in the data flows of FIG. 14) or delivered to the user viavoice or audio interface using a speaker 109 (shown in FIG. 1C but notshown in FIG. 14). Because of the small size of the screens in cellphones, more data can be transmitted to the cell phone than can beusefully displayed. For some applications, only portions of the data aredisplayed. For some applications, only text is displayed andaccompanying pictures are not. In current Internet-enabled cell phones,the “excess” information that cannot be usefully displayed is nottransmitted by the data service to the cell phone. The TV Phone 321receives this additional information and transfers it to a specialwireless transmitter 411. When the user presses a special button 413 (orpre-defined combination of other buttons), the data is sent to awireless receiver 415 in the television set. The data is processed byelectronics associated with this wireless receiver (not shownseparately) and then displayed on the television monitor 309. If thedata includes a phone number accessible by the TV Phone 321, this numberis displayed in the lower right corner of the screen 311, whereas thewireless data receiver 409 in the TV Phone 321 places the number inautodialer 327.

This embodiment does not require the television to have a directInternet connections, but enables a user to have a television monitor(or similarly equipped computer monitor) display information received bythe TV Phone 321, but display that information on a much larger screenthan is possible on a cell phone.

This transmitter 411 may be combined with other wireless transmittersused by the TV Phone 321 such as 335, or may operate on differentfrequencies or protocols. For example, the wireless transmitter 335 thatpermits the TV Phone 321 to operate as a television remote control mayoperate on an infrared protocol, whereas the wireless transmitter 411may operate using the BlueTooth protocol designed to allow wirelesscommunications among household devices. This description is not intendedto limit the included protocols and frequencies, and the scope of thepresent invention is intended to include other acceptable protocols forthe various functions of the TV Phone 321 which are known to thoseskilled in the art.

Other elements of the system shown in FIG. 14 are the same as shown incorresponding numbered items in FIG. 13.

As in previous figures, an alternative embodiment includes voicerecognition software (not shown in FIG. 14), so that transmitting thedata from the TV Phone 321 to the television set occurs upon voicecommand.

FIG. 15 shows an alternate embodiment of the present invention, in whichcontent, or the electronic address of content, is transmitted from theTV Phone 321 to a kiosk 416. The kiosk 416 includes a wireless receiver315 and a monitor 309 as described above, and is also connected to anISP 363 as described above. However, unlike previous embodiments, thekiosk 416 also includes a local control device 418 which includes apayment module 420 therein. The payment module 420 tracks usage chargesfor providing content to the display screen. In this scheme, the TVPhone 321 communicates customer identity information, such as thetelephone number of the TV Phone 321, to the payment module 420. Thepayment module 420 inhibits the completion of the process unless thepayment module 420 properly authorizes the TV Phone 321 to use themonitor 309 for viewing content. This embodiment allows a TV Phone userto view content, or the content located at an electronic address,delivered to the TV Phone 321 on a larger screen display (here, monitor309 of the kiosk 416). The TV Phone 321 may be similar to the TV phonesdescribed above, or may be a WAP-enabled phone or an i-mode phone. Thepayment module 420 tracks usage fees and bills the paying partyaccordingly.

Alternate embodiments of the present invention not only indicate that aphone number can be called by a display light 325 on the TV Phone 321,but also show the phone number in the LCD screen 111 (or other displayscreen) of the TV Phone 321.

Alternate embodiments of the TV Phone 321 include a built-in camera (notshown) to allow the TV Phone 321 to act as a “picture phone,”transmitting video along with the audio.

Alternate embodiments have a built in GPS device to determine thelocation of the TV Phone 321 in order to help determine which phonenumber is to be dialed or which data code is to accessed. The locationdetermines which time zone the TV Phone 321 is operating from. With thisknowledge, the device only needs to know which station or network isbeing accessed and broadcaster “playlists” provide the rest of theinformation. The location assists the use of the TV Phone 321 to receivephone numbers or data from location-based billboards or other media.

Alternate embodiments use the other location procedures, such as thetriangulation to determine the location of the TV Phone 321. U.S.Federal regulations have required that such location devices or softwarebe incorporated into cell phones and cell phone networks in order toassist 911 emergency systems.

Although the present invention has been described as receiving dataprimarily from a television set, it may receive data, phone numbers oraccess codes from other appliances, such as radios. It may receive datafrom wireless transmitters in billboards, or other outdoor signs, orother printed or audiovisual media or data sources. The scope of thepresent invention is to enable an individual with a TV phone to accessadditional information regarding other real world objects and eventswith a click of the button or at a verbal command.

Although the present invention has been described as receiving phonenumber data over the television blanking interval, it may also receivethat data over other intervals, over other portions of the broadcast orwireless spectrum, over the Internet or other network, over segregatedchannels or data streams over a cable television network, along with orover the communications transfer of online or broadcast program guides(including interactive program guides), as additional coded data alongwith the standard television signal, over portions of the additionalspectrum allocated with HDTV (High Definition TV) channels, and otherforms, methods and protocols for data distribution.

Although the disclosure above refers to connecting viewers to “websites” and “web site addresses,” the scope of the present inventionincludes other non-Internet-type electronic addressing schemes wherein auser inputs a location or address containing desired content and anelectronic network connects the user to the location or address toobtain the content.

The present invention may be implemented with any combination ofhardware and software. If implemented as a computer-implementedapparatus, the present invention is implemented using means forperforming all of the steps and functions described above.

The present invention can be included in an article of manufacture(e.g., one or more computer program products) having, for instance,computer useable media. The media has embodied therein, for instance,computer readable program code means for providing and facilitating themechanisms of the present invention. The article of manufacture can beincluded as part of a computer system or sold separately.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes could bemade to the embodiments described above without departing from the broadinventive concept thereof. It is understood, therefore, that thisinvention is not limited to the particular embodiments disclosed, but itis intended to cover modifications within the spirit and scope of thepresent invention as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for viewing content on a displayscreen, the apparatus comprising: (a) a portable device adapted to allowviewing of content on a nearby display screen which is not physicallyconnected to the portable device, the portable device including: (i) amemory that stores the content, or a portion thereof, and an electronicaddress of the content; (ii) a display screen which displays thecontent, or a portion thereof; (iii) a button which facilitatescommunication of the content between the portable device and a localcontrol device connected to the nearby display screen, and (iv) awireless transmitter that communicates the electronic address of thecontent from the portable device to the local control device via asignal sent by the wireless transmitter upon selection of the button;and (b) the local control device which receives the signal, transmits arequest over an electronic network to retrieve the content from a remotelocation, and upon receiving the content, provides the content to thenearby display screen for display thereon.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1wherein the local control device further comprises a payment modulewhich tracks usage charges for providing content to the nearby displayscreen, and the portable device communicates customer identityinformation to the payment module, and wherein the payment module isadapted to inhibit at least one of the following actions from occurringunless the payment module properly authorizes the portable device to usethe nearby display screen for viewing content: (i) communicating theelectronic address of the content from the portable device to the localcontrol device, (ii) receiving, by the local control device, the signal,(iii) transmitting, by the local control device, the request to retrievethe content from the remote location, and (iv) providing, by the localcontrol device, the content to the nearby display screen.
 3. Theapparatus of claim 2 wherein the portable device is a telephone deviceand the customer identity information is the telephone number of thetelephone device.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the content shownon the telephone device display screen is a portion of a full contentimage, and the full content image is provided to the local controldevice for display on the nearby display screen.
 5. The apparatus ofclaim 1 wherein the electronic address is a web site address, the remotelocation is a web site, and the electronic network is the Internet. 6.The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the content, or a portion thereof, thatis stored in the portable device is retrieved from a remote source.
 7. Asystem for viewing content on a display screen, the system comprising:(a) a portable device adapted to allow viewing of content on a nearbydisplay screen which is not physically connected to the portable device,the portable device including: (i) a memory that stores the content, ora portion thereof, and an electronic address of the content; (ii) adisplay screen which displays the content, or a portion thereof; (iii) abutton which facilitates communication of the content between theportable device and a local control device connected to the nearbydisplay screen, and (iv) a wireless transmitter that communicates theelectronic address of the content from the portable device to the localcontrol device via a signal sent by the wireless transmitter uponselection of the button; (b) the local control device which receives thesignal, transmits a request over an electronic network to retrieve thecontent from a remote location, and upon receiving the content, providesthe content to the nearby display screen for display thereon; and (c)the nearby display screen.
 8. The system of claim 7 wherein the localcontrol device further comprises a payment module which tracks usagecharges for providing content to the nearby display screen, and theportable device communicates customer identity information to thepayment module, and wherein the payment module is adapted to inhibit atleast one of the following actions from occurring unless the paymentmodule properly authorizes the portable device to use the nearby displayscreen for viewing content: (i) communicating the electronic address ofthe content from the portable device to the local control device, (ii)receiving, by the local control device, the signal, (iii) transmitting,by the local control device, the request to retrieve the content fromthe remote location, and (iv) providing, by the local control device,the content to the nearby display screen.
 9. The system of claim 8wherein the portable device is a telephone device and the customeridentity information is the telephone number of the telephone device.10. The system of claim 7 wherein the content shown on the telephonedevice display screen is a portion of a full content image, and the fullcontent image is provided to the local control device for display on thenearby display screen.
 11. The system of claim 7 wherein the electronicaddress is a web site address, the remote location is a web site, andthe electronic network is the Internet.
 12. The system of claim 7wherein the content, or a portion thereof, that is stored in theportable device is retrieved from a remote source.
 13. An apparatus forviewing content on a display screen, the apparatus comprising: (a) aportable device adapted to allow viewing of content on a nearby displayscreen which is not physically connected to the portable device, theportable device including: (i) a memory that stores an electronicaddress of content retrieved from a remote source, (ii) a display screenwhich displays the electronic address of content, (iii) a button whichfacilitates communication of the electronic address between the portabledevice and a local control device connected to the nearby displayscreen, and (iv) a wireless transmitter that communicates the electronicaddress from the portable device to the local control device via asignal sent by the wireless transmitter upon selection of the button;and (b) the local control device which receives the signal, transmits arequest over an electronic network to retrieve the content at theelectronic address from a remote location, and upon receiving thecontent, provides the content to the nearby display screen for displaythereon.
 14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the local control devicefurther comprises a payment module which tracks usage charges forproviding content to the nearby display screen, and the portable devicecommunicates customer identity information to the payment module, andwherein the payment module is adapted to inhibit at least one of thefollowing actions from occurring unless the payment module properlyauthorizes the portable device to use the nearby display screen forviewing content: (i) communicating the electronic address of the contentfrom the portable device to the local control device, (ii) receiving, bythe local control device, the signal, (iii) transmitting, by the localcontrol device, the request to retrieve the content from the remotelocation, and (iv) providing, by the local control device, the contentto the nearby display screen.
 15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein theportable device is a telephone device and the customer identityinformation is the telephone number of the telephone device.
 16. Theapparatus of claim 13 wherein the electronic address is a web siteaddress, the remote location is a web site, and the electronic networkis the Internet.
 17. A system for viewing content on a display screen,the system comprising: (a) a portable device adapted to allow viewing ofcontent on a nearby display screen which is not physically connected tothe portable device, the portable device including: (i) a memory thatstores an electronic address of content retrieved from a remote source,(ii) a display screen which displays the electronic address of content,(iii) a button which facilitates communication of the electronic addressbetween the portable device and a local control device connected to thenearby display screen, and (iv) a wireless transmitter that communicatesthe electronic address from the portable device to the local controldevice via a signal sent by the wireless transmitter upon selection ofthe button; (b) the local control device which receives the signal,transmits a request over an electronic network to retrieve the contentat the electronic address from a remote location, and upon receiving thecontent, provides the content to the nearby display screen for displaythereon; and (c) the nearby display screen.
 18. The system of claim 17wherein the local control device further comprises a payment modulewhich tracks usage charges for providing content to the nearby displayscreen, and the portable device communicates customer identityinformation to the payment module, and wherein the payment module isadapted to inhibit at least one of the following actions from occurringunless the payment module properly authorizes the portable device to usethe nearby display screen for viewing content: (i) communicating theelectronic address of the content from the portable device to the localcontrol device, (ii) receiving, by the local control device, the signal,(iii) transmitting, by the local control device, the request to retrievethe content from the remote location, and (iv) providing, by the localcontrol device, the content to the nearby display screen.
 19. The systemof claim 18 wherein the portable device is a telephone device and thecustomer identity information is the telephone number of the telephonedevice.
 20. The system of claim 17 wherein the electronic address is aweb site address, the remote location is a web site, and the electronicnetwork is the Internet.
 21. An apparatus for viewing content on adisplay screen comprising a portable device adapted to allow viewing ofcontent on a nearby display screen which is not physically connected tothe portable device, the portable device including: (i) a memory thatstores the content, or a portion thereof, and an electronic address ofthe content; (ii) a display screen which displays the content, or aportion thereof; (iii) a button which facilitates communication of thecontent between the portable device and a local control device connectedto the nearby display screen, and (iv) a wireless transmitter thatcommunicates the electronic address of the content from the portabledevice to the local control device via a signal sent by the wirelesstransmitter upon selection of the button, wherein the signal is receivedby the local control device which transmits a request over an electronicnetwork to retrieve the content from a remote location, and uponreceiving the content, provides the content to the nearby display screenfor display thereon.
 22. The apparatus of claim 21 wherein the localcontrol device further comprises a payment module which tracks usagecharges for providing content to the nearby display screen, and theportable device communicates customer identity information to thepayment module, and wherein the payment module is adapted to inhibit atleast one of the following actions from occurring unless the paymentmodule properly authorizes the portable device to use the nearby displayscreen for viewing content: (i) communicating the electronic address ofthe content from the portable device to the local control device, (ii)receiving, by the local control device, the signal, (iii) transmitting,by the local control device, the request to retrieve the content fromthe remote location, and (iv) providing, by the local control device,the content to the nearby display screen.
 23. The apparatus of claim 22wherein the portable device is a telephone device and the customeridentity information is the telephone number of the telephone device.24. The apparatus of claim 21 wherein the content shown on the telephonedevice display screen is a portion of a full content image, and the fullcontent image is provided to the local control device for display on thenearby display screen.
 25. The apparatus of claim 21 wherein theelectronic address is a web site address, the remote location is a website, and the electronic network is the Internet.
 26. The apparatus ofclaim 21 wherein the content, or a portion thereof, that is stored inthe portable device is retrieved from a remote source.
 27. An apparatusfor viewing content on a display screen, the apparatus comprising aportable device adapted to allow viewing of content on a nearby displayscreen which is not physically connected to the portable device, theportable device including: (i) a memory that stores an electronicaddress of content retrieved from a remote source, (ii) a display screenwhich displays the electronic address of content, (iii) a button whichfacilitates communication of the electronic address between the portabledevice and a local control device connected to the nearby displayscreen, and (iv) a wireless transmitter that communicates the electronicaddress from the portable device to the local control device via asignal sent by the wireless transmitter upon selection of the button,wherein the signal is received by the local control device whichtransmits a request over an electronic network to retrieve the contentat the electronic address from a remote location, and upon receiving thecontent, provides the content to the nearby display screen for displaythereon.
 28. The apparatus of claim 27 wherein the local control devicefurther comprises a payment module which tracks usage charges forproviding content to the nearby display screen, and the portable devicecommunicates customer identity information to the payment module, andwherein the payment module is adapted to inhibit at least one of thefollowing actions from occurring unless the payment module properlyauthorizes the portable device to use the nearby display screen forviewing content: (i) communicating the electronic address of the contentfrom the portable device to the local control device, (ii) receiving, bythe local control device, the signal, (iii) transmitting, by the localcontrol device, the request to retrieve the content from the remotelocation, and (iv) providing, by the local control device, the contentto the nearby display screen.
 29. The apparatus of claim 28 wherein theportable device is a telephone device and the customer identityinformation is the telephone number of the telephone device.
 30. Theapparatus of claim 27 wherein the electronic address is a web siteaddress, the remote location is a web site, and the electronic networkis the Internet.